U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve to confirm that no taxpayer funds will be used to support cryptocurrency markets following bitcoin’s sharp downturn.
In a 18 February letter to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, Warren wrote, “I write today to request written confirmation that neither the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) nor the Federal Reserve (Fed) will use taxpayer dollars to bail out cryptocurrency billionaires and other highly leveraged cryptocurrency investors.”
She cited bitcoin’s decline of more than $2 trillion, or roughly 50%, since its October 2025 peak and warned against any federal action that could disproportionately benefit wealthy holders.
“Any government response to bitcoin’s recent crash must be centered around bolstering safeguards for individual crypto holders,”
Warren stated, adding that:
“American taxpayers should not be on the hook for billionaire crypto investors.”
The senator referenced the Treasury’s Exchange Stabilisation Fund and the Federal Reserve’s Section 13(3) emergency lending authority, arguing that these tools, used in past crises, must not be deployed to stabilise bitcoin prices or assist crypto intermediaries.
Warren requested written confirmation by 27 February 2026 that regulators would not use their authorities to support the bitcoin market or related firms.
She also pointed to concentrated ownership within the ecosystem and rising fraud losses, including impersonation schemes and bitcoin ATM scams, as reasons to prioritise consumer protection and tighter oversight over market intervention.